An accumulation device 100 as illustrated in FIG. 14 is known. The accumulation device 100 may be used for a system designed for applying, to a long belt-like substrate S such as a resin film supplied from a supply reel, predetermined processing such as inspection and machining (e.g., printing, perforating) of the substrate S, and thereafter taking up the substrate S with a winding reel. In such a system, the accumulation device 100 is disposed between a processing device that performs the predetermined processing and a winding unit that winds up the substrate processed by the processing device.
As illustrated in FIG. 14A, the accumulation device 100 includes a plurality of fixed rollers 102 which are arranged in parallel to each other upward in the vertical direction such that they are spaced from each other, and a plurality of movable rollers 104 which are arranged downward in the vertical direction from the respective fixed rollers 102 such that they are spaced from and parallel to each other. Each of the fixed rollers 102 is rotatably supported by a fixed frame (not shown) at its opposite ends. Each of the movable rollers 104, on the other hand, is rotatably supported by a pair of support members 106 (one of which is shown) at its opposite ends. The support member 106 is configured to be capable of ascending and descending toward and away from the fixed rollers 102.
In the accumulation device 100 configured as described above, the substrate S is transported from upstream (the right side in FIG. 14) toward downstream (the left side in FIG. 14) while being wound around each fixed roller 102 and each movable roller 104 alternately. A load F acts on the support member 106 downwardly in the vertical direction. During steady operation in which the substrate S is continuously transported at a constant rate with the load F acting on the support member 106, the substrate S is transported while a constant tensile force is being applied the substrate S.
When a downstream device, such as the winding unit, located downstream of the accumulation device 100, stops for replacement of a reel, for example, outfeed of the substrate S stops downstream of the accumulation device 100 as illustrated in FIG. 14B; however, the substrate S is continuously fed from upstream of the accumulation device 100. In this case, the accumulation device 100 moves the support member 106 supporting the movable rollers 104 away from the fixed rollers 102; that is, downward in the vertical direction (in the direction of arrow G). This allows the substrate S, being continuously fed in with outfeed the substrate S being stopped, to be accumulated in the accumulation device 100.
When the downstream device starts operation to resume outfeed of the substrate S from the accumulation device 100, a substrate outfeed rate by an outfeed roller, which is not shown, is set to be higher than that in steady operation, and, as illustrated in FIG. 14C, the substrate S accumulated in the accumulation device 100 is fed out while the support member 106 supporting the movable rollers 104 is being moved upward. When the support member 106 ascends to a home position in steady operation, the operation state is placed in the steady operation state with the outfeed rate of the substrate S being set to be the same as the infeed rate.
Reference documents related to such an accumulation device include Patent Documents 1 and 2 listed below. The accumulation devices disclosed in these documents are disposed between a substrate feeding device, which is an upstream device, and a labeling device, which is a downstream device. The accumulation devices are capable of continuously transporting a cylindrical label folded in a sheet form to the labeling device at a constant rate while accumulating the label substrate during the steady operation, and continuously feeding out the label substrate accumulated in the accumulation device while infeed of the label substrate is suspended because of replacement of an elongate roll of label substrate of the substrate feeding device, thereby allowing continuous operations of the labeling device.